New Iranian president to be sworn in next month

The president will have 15 days to present a list of proposed ministers for a vote of confidence in parliament

Iran’s president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian will be sworn in as the country’s ninth president in early August, state news agency Irna reported on Sunday, citing a member of the parliament.

“The swearing-in ceremony of the president will be held on August 4 or 5,” said Mojtaba Yousefi, a member of the parliament’s presiding board.

“The president will have 15 days to present his proposed ministers to the parliament for a vote of confidence.”

Mr Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and former health minister, won a run-off vote on Friday against former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. The reformist candidate garnered 16,384,403 votes compared with 13,538,179 for his hardliner rival.

Election officials said voter turnout was 49.8 per cent, up from a record low of about 40 per cent in the first round.

In his first public remarks after the results were announced on Saturday, Mr Pezeshkian vowed to focus on “promoting dialogue” and “national reconciliation” in Iran, while also addressing continuing economic, social, cultural and political issues, state news agency Press TV reported.

Mr Pezeshkian said he wanted to enhance co-operation between the parliament and the judiciary “to prevent divergence and tension in the country”.

“Let’s all take a step together towards securing the country’s national interests and opening the horizon of sustainable development and all-round progress of Iran,” he said.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all major policy issues, congratulated Mr Pezeshkian on winning the election, which was called after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

Mr Khamenei urged the president-elect to “continue the path of martyr Raisi and use the country’s many capacities, especially the revolutionary and faithful youth, for the comfort of the people and the progress of the country”.

During his campaign Mr Pezeshkian called for “constructive relations” with western countries to “get Iran out of its isolation”. He favours reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers, which could lead to the lifting of sanctions on the Iranian economy.

The European Union said it was willing to work with the new government in Iran.

“We take note of the results of the presidential elections in Iran and congratulate President elect Masoud Pezeshkian. We are ready to engage with the new government in line with EU policy of critical engagement,” EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy spokeswoman Nabila Massrali wrote on X.